Air Siam was an airline based in Thailand which operated from 1965 until 1976.

History

The airline was established as ''Varan Air-Siam'' on 15 September 1965 by Prince Varanand, who was the major shareholder at the time. Operations started in 1970 using

Douglas DC-4 The Douglas DC-4 is an American four-engined (piston), propeller-driven airliner developed by the Douglas Aircraft Company. Military versions of the plane, the C-54 and R5D, served during World War II, in the Berlin Airlift and into the 1 ...

equipment, initially flying the

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

−

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...

route as a freighter service. Following an agreement with Overseas National Airways for the

wet-lease Aircraft leases are leases used by airlines and other aircraft operators. Airlines lease aircraft from other airlines or leasing companies for two main reasons: to operate aircraft without the financial burden of buying them, and to provide tempora ...

of a

Douglas DC-8-63 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in July ...

and operational assistance from Trans World Airlines, scheduled passenger services started in serving Bangkok,

Honolulu Honolulu (; ) is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii, which is in the Pacific Ocean. It is an unincorporated county seat of the consolidated City and County of Honolulu, situated along the southeast coast of the island ...

Tokyo Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and List of cities in Japan, largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, ...

and

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...

. All these services were suspended in ; the Bangkok–Hong Kong sector was reactivated in the same year with a leased BAC One-Eleven and extended to Tokyo seven months later, in , operated with a Boeing 707. In , the carrier placed an order for two

Airbus A300 The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus. In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner. West ...

s, one A300B2 and one A300B4, taking an option for one more of the longer-range variant. After taking delivery of the first of these aircraft on a lease basis from

Airbus Airbus SE (; ; ; ) is a European multinational aerospace corporation. Airbus designs, manufactures and sells civil and military aerospace products worldwide and manufactures aircraft throughout the world. The company has three divisions: ' ...

in , Air Siam became the second operator worldwide in deploying the type on scheduled services, after

Air France Air France (; formally ''Société Air France, S.A.''), stylised as AIRFRANCE, is the flag carrier of France headquartered in Tremblay-en-France. It is a subsidiary of the Air France–KLM Group and a founding member of the SkyTeam global a ...

. Also in 1974, the company placed an order for a Douglas DC-10-30, to be used on the Bangkok–Los Angeles route. Rights for the routes the airline intended to deploy the A300s on were never granted, and the A300B2 was returned to the lessor just a year after it was incorporated into the fleet. Before Air Siam started flying long-haul services, Thailand's

flag carrier A flag carrier is a transport company, such as an airline or shipping company, that, being locally registered in a given sovereign state, enjoys preferential rights or privileges accorded by the government for international operations. Hi ...

Thai International was the country's single long-haul operator. Already in 1974, the airline had accused both Thai International and the Thai Civil Aeronautics Board for obstructing their expansion plans. Despite various

governments A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is a ...

had considered the possibility of a merger, this never materialised. A new government taking office in 1976 had a different vision and decided that Thailand should have just one long-haul carrier.

Destinations

Throughout its history, the airline served the following destinations: * Hong Kong **

Kai Tak Airport Kai Tak Airport was the international airport of Hong Kong from 1925 until 1998. Officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, it is often referred to as Hong Kong International Airport, Kai Tak, or simply Ka ...

* Japan **

Haneda Airport , officially , and sometimes called as Tokyo Haneda Airport or Haneda International Airport , is one of two international airports serving the Greater Tokyo Area, the other one being Narita International Airport (NRT). It serves as the primary ...

* Thailand **

Don Mueang International Airport Don Mueang International Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานดอนเมือง, , , or colloquially as , ) is one of two international airports serving the Bangkok Metropolitan Region, the other one being Suvarnabhumi Airp ...

('' Hub'') * United States **

Daniel K. Inouye International Airport Daniel K. Inouye International Airport , also known as Honolulu International Airport, is the main airport of Oahu, Hawaii. * Airbus A300B2 *

Airbus A300B4 The Airbus A300 is a wide-body airliner developed and manufactured by Airbus. In September 1967, aircraft manufacturers in the United Kingdom, France, and West Germany signed a memorandum of understanding to develop a large airliner. Wes ...

* BAC One-Eleven 400 *

Boeing 707-120 The Boeing 707 is an American, long-range, Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype first flown in 1954, the initial first ...

* Boeing 747-100 * Boeing 747-200B * Douglas C-54A * Douglas C-54B *

Douglas DC-8-60 The Douglas DC-8 (sometimes McDonnell Douglas DC-8) is a long-range narrow-body airliner built by the American Douglas Aircraft Company. After losing the May 1954 US Air Force tanker competition to the Boeing KC-135, Douglas announced in Jul ...

* McDonnell Douglas DC-10-30

References

External links

Air Siam fleet information
{{Use dmy dates, date=September 2019 Defunct airlines of Thailand Airlines established in 1965 Airlines disestablished in 1976 1976 disestablishments in Thailand Thai companies established in 1965

History

Destinations

See also

References

External links